The day had dragged forever, but when the lecturer finally told them to bring their assignments forward, the whole room came alive. Chairs scraped, chatter buzzed, everyone pushing toward the front in a loose wave.
Kael stood with his notebook clutched in one hand, trying not to get swallowed by the crowd. Then he noticed it 'Aimee.
She was just ahead of him, her hair catching the low light, the sway of her hips exaggerated with every step through the crush of bodies. The short hem of her skirt rose a little with each movement, clinging and releasing as if teasing the rhythm. And her ass—soft, full, elegant in its shape moved like a slow burn that his eyes couldn't pull away from no matter how hard he tried.
His chest tightened. Every shift of her weight, every step forward, felt like a private performance only he was meant to see. His breath grew shallow, his heart drumming louder than the chatter around him.
Then—snap. A voice, bright and teasing, cut the spell.
"Hey, knucklehead."
Kael blinked, dragged back into the room as laughter spilled beside him. He turned and there she was—Mia, leaning with one arm against a desk, smirk tugging at her lips. Her eyes gleamed like she'd caught him red-handed.
"I knew you were carried away," she laughed, her voice pitched just enough for him to hear over the crowd. Her grin widened, playful but dangerous, like she'd just reminded him who held the match near his gasoline heart.
Kael swallowed, the heat of Aimee still burning in his veins, but Mia's smile slicing through it with a different kind of fire.
He muttered, half defensive, half embarrassed, "Don't you have your own assignment to turn in?"
Mia just tilted her head, eyes narrowing as though she'd already won. "I'll get there," she said smoothly. "But watching you stumble between the two of us? That's way more fun."
The words hit harder than he wanted them to.
.....
The crowd pressed forward in fits, notebooks and papers waving in the air, voices overlapping. Kael kept moving, caught between the push of bodies and the pull of his thoughts.
Mia still lingered at his side, smirking like she owned the space. Her voice carried, playful and sharp.
"Don't trip over yourself, Kael. Eyes up here unless you're planning to walk right into her."
The word her hung pointedly, and Kael's stomach twisted. He didn't have to ask who Mia meant.
He tried to shake it off, but a shift in the crowd made Aimee glance back over her shoulder. For a fleeting second, her eyes brushed across him—and then, softer, across Mia.
Kael froze.
It wasn't a glare. Not even a challenge. Just a quiet flicker of awareness like she'd read every word of Mia's teasing, every nerve it struck in him, and tucked it away behind that shy, delicate smile she always wore. Her lips curved faintly, polite, but her eyes… her eyes lingered a second longer than they should have before she looked down again and pressed forward in the line.
Kael's throat tightened. He could feel the difference. Aimee wasn't blind. She wasn't deaf to the way Mia baited him. She knew.
And that knowledge of her knowing, yet staying calm and unreadable burned worse than Mia's taunting grin. It was as if Aimee had just joined the game, silently, without needing to say a word.
Mia leaned in, brushing her shoulder against his. "See?" she whispered low enough only he caught it. "She's watching you now."
Kael's pulse spiked.
.....
The chatter around him blurred into noise. Pages rustled, chairs scraped, voices called to one another as the lecturer's desk grew crowded with students shoving forward their assignments.
Kael stood caught in the flow, his mind not on the paper in his hand but on the silent exchange that had just happened.
Aimee had already slipped ahead, her posture calm, collected like nothing unusual had happened. Like Mia's teasing hadn't brushed the air at all. But Kael could still see that tiny glance of hers, replaying in his head. The faint curve of her lips. The softness of her eyes when they lingered that half-second too long.
Mia nudged him with her elbow, grinning. "Daydreaming again? You're so easy to read." She laughed, light and cruel, before tossing her hair and weaving away into another group of students.
Kael forced a chuckle, but it came out thin. Easy to read? No. If anything, he felt unreadable himself—lost in the haze both girls stirred inside him.
By the time he dropped his assignment on the pile and headed for the door, the classroom was thinning out. The sun outside had already dipped low, spilling the windows with tired, golden light. His friends joked somewhere down the hall, calling him to catch up, but he lingered behind, slower, distracted.
Two faces lingered in his thoughts.
Mia, loud and relentless, burning herself into his space.
Aimee, soft but sharp, quiet but cutting deeper than words.
Kael rubbed his temple, stepping out into the hallway. For the first time, he realized he wasn't sure which one of them had actually unsettled him more.
.....
By the time Kael finally pushed through the doors, the corridor had thinned. His friends were leaning against the railing outside, laughter spilling easy between them. The kind of careless laughter he wished he could borrow for himself.
"Finally," Jacob called, spotting him. "What, you trying to marry your assignment to the desk or what?" The others laughed, clapping shoulders, shifting backpacks.
Kael managed a half-smile, but his head was still cluttered. He must've looked it too, because Darren squinted at him. "Bro, why do you look like you just came out of a funeral? It's just class."
"Yeah," Jacob chimed in, smirking. "Or maybe it's not the class. Maybe it's the girls." He raised his brows knowingly.
That got the rest of them roaring. One nudged Kael's arm. "You take things way too deep, man. Just talk to her, whoever's got your brain scrambled."
"Or both of them," Jacob added with a wicked grin. "Careful, Kael. You're a magnet. Half the girls in there already got their eyes on you. You might get caught before you even make a move."
The laughter echoed again, a little too loud in Kael's ears. He forced a chuckle to play along, but inside he felt the weight of it. They said it like a joke, but what if it wasn't?
Two sets of eyes haunted him, the smirk of Mia, the shy glance of Aimee.
And he didn't know which one he should run from… or which one he wanted to stay.
....
He laughed along with them just enough to slip by, but when the group broke off toward the bus stop, Kael let his feet slow.
The street was dimmer now, the hum of traffic dull in the distance. He walked alone, bag heavy on his shoulder, but it was his head that weighed most.
Mia's teasing grin.
Aimee's shy smile, soft and unreadable.
His friends' voices ringing: You're a magnet.
Kael dragged a hand through his hair and exhaled, the night air cold against his skin. He hated how unsettled he felt, how his chest tightened every time he replayed the scenes. He wasn't supposed to get distracted. Not by curves swaying in skirts. Not by a quiet girl's accidental brush.
But he was.
And as he reached his door, Kael realized with a bitter twist sleep wouldn't come easy tonight